I receive hundreds of email messages a day, but only a couple dozen actually make it into my inbox. Thanks to the automated power of full-strength email filters, just the messages that are important enough to deal with catch my attention when I'm busy.

It's not that I don't read every message I receive eventually, it's that I want to do it on my own terms and in my own time. Low-priority, unsolicited email shouldn't suck up brain cycles when I'm under deadline. Only the "important" messages should be let through the gate. Here's where email filters save the day.

It's taken me years to polish and perfect this set of tried and true armed guards who protect my inbox from undesirables. Today I'll share some of my favorites - and then I want to hear about yours.

The examples here use Gmail's format because of its superior searching capabilities that allow for complex, specific filters. Many can be applied to most modern email clients.

Bozo Filter

For: Anyone who's had the misfortune of being added to an email list from which they can't seem to unsubscribe, or who get badgered by *cough* PUBLIC RELATIONS BULLDOGS *cough* who spam you with messages every day.

How it works: Messages from anyone who you never want to hear from again under any circumstances get deleted.

Example: Messages from folks on my blacklist get automatically deleted.

Matches: from:(annoyingperson1@example.com OR annoyingperson2@example.com) Do this: Skip Inbox, Delete it

What are your most effective email filters? Tell us all about 'em in the comments or to tips at lifehacker.com.

Gina Trapani, the editor of Lifehacker, loves a good strong filter. Her semi-weekly feature, Geek to Live, appears every Wednesday and Friday on Lifehacker. Subscribe to the Geek to Live feed to get new installments in your newsreader.